1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a clamp which can be coupled and linked for clamping of transport bodies to a movable rope, in particular for hangers of continuous rope ways with at least a pair of clamping jaws gripping the rope, where at least one clamping jaw can be pressed by at least one compression spring to the rope or, respectively, can be lifted from this rope by a tiltable lever controlled by a spatially fixed connecting link, and where the movable clamping jaw is formed as a two-armed lever, where one arm forms the clamping jaw, and where the second arm is loaded by a compression spring.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
A clamp of this kind is known from the European Patent Application Laid Open EU-OS 174,701. The movable clamping jaw is part of a two-arm lever, where the one arm forms the clamping jaw, and where the second arm carries at its end a freely rotatable roller, which cooperates with a control crank, if the clamp is to be opened or, respectively, to be closed. The arm engages a compression spring close to this freely rotatable roller, which has to provide the necessary clamping pressure which, on the other hand, is tiltably supported at the clamping body. In case of a closed clamp, the axis of the compression spring, which is formed in this case as a helical spring, and the arm, at which this spring engages, form an obtuse angle with respect to each other, which is additionally enlarged upon opening of the clamp, where the spring has to be compressed for the opening of the clamp. The force exerted by the compression spring, in case of an opened clamp, onto the clamping system is larger as compared to the case where the clamp is closed. Such a clamp is not considered to be advantageous since the clamp, so to speak, has to be opened against the spring. This means that the spring has to be further compressed for the opening of the clamp such that, in the following, the force exerted on the system by the compression spring is larger than in the case where the clamp is closed.
A construction which is very similar to this is illustrated in the European Patent EU-PS 56,919, which essentially distinguishes itself from the first recited reference construction only by the feature that the engagement point of the spring is disposed closer to the end of the lever arm comprising the roller. Thus, however, the mode of operation is not changed in principle and, again, this clamp has to be opened against the force of the spring, the spring has to be compressed further for opening of the clamp. Again, therefore, in the same way, the force exerted by the spring on the clamping system, in case of an open clamp, is larger as compared to the case where the clamp is closed even though, just in this case, a higher and more secure supported force would be required.
A construction which appears to be more advantageous relative to this particular aspect is illustrated and described in the Austrian Patent AT-PS 375,047. In this case, a spring packet, comprising cup springs, is pressed together for closing of the clamp and, upon opening or disengaging of the clamp, it is released, whereby the opening or the disengaging of the clamp is supported by a helical spring additionally provided. The cup spring packet is permeated by a guide rod, carrying on the ends the movable jaw, and acts onto the inner end of the spring packet on a sliding piece via a control cam, which control cam can be tilted based on a lever rigidly connected to the control cam. The sliding piece carries at its end a roller, which roller co-acts with the control cam. The very large forces have to be furnished in this case over relatively short level-like components, based on the direct and immediate action of the control cam onto the sliding piece supporting the spring packet, which results in a complicated construction and cannot be easily implemented and commanded.
Similar considerations also hold for clamps which can be coupled according to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,462, where two parallel switched helical springs, disposed inside of each other, are provided instead of a cup spring packet. The rod, permeating in this case the springs, acts with its outer front face onto a movable clamping jaw. The spring-loaded rod is itself actuated via a two-arm angle lever, where the outer end of the angle lever comprises rollers and is directed toward the clamping jaw, such that this level can perform only a limited motion relative to its angle, since no space for a larger area of motion is available in this region based on constructive limitations. Furthermore, large forces have to be transferred over short distances based on the relatively short level component.
Mention should also be made of the clamp according to the European Patent Application Laid Open EU-OS 150,701. This switchable clamp comprises a plurality of springs, where a part of the springs serves for testing of the clamping force. The movable clamping part is connected via several intermediately connected actuating members with a tiltably supported switching arm, which co-acts via its roller-containing end with a switching connecting link. The large number of the construction elements present in this case requires a large construction space, even though it is favorable in this construction, that the springs present in this construction, upon closing of the clamp, are pressed together and, on the contrary, are released upon opening of the clamp, such that the possibility exists with this construction to test the clamping force of the compression spring during operation.
The French Patent No. 1,537,191 to Jean Pomagalski teaches an improvement relative to devices which are suspended during a cable movement. The reference shows a clamping mechanism where clamps 14 and 15 hold at a cable 50.